Page 13 of Of Serpents and Ruins
I couldn't form the words, but if I could have willed them into his consciousness, I would have.
He leaned in even closer, his thumb still stroking the charm as he stared deep into my eyes. The soft cherry fragrance intensified.
Yes, whatever he wanted,yes. I reached up to slide my hand along the back of his neck.
Light flared in his eyes, his pupils shrinking into pinpricks. His shoulders dropped as his jaw jutted out. Rage blazed in his face. "You must die," he bellowed, his hands seizing my throat and squeezing.
STELLA
He really was going to kill me!
I gasped and choked, my hands flying to his. Those deep-red eyes were no longer warm and friendly, the lines in his face now terrifyingly sharp. His gaze burned with fury, his fingers tightening like iron bands.
I clawed at his hands, trying to pry his fingers from my throat as he squeezed tighter. My lungs burned for air, and black spots swam before my eyes.
No. No! Something had gone wrong.It hadn't warned me. The charm turned yellow too fast. We had more time!My thoughts grew more confused, not fully making sense.This isn’t the man I love.
Flailing, I struggled to free myself. Memories danced like the dots in front of my eyes, all hovering just out of consciousness as if to lure me in.
He was going to kill me.
And I couldn't stop him.
I aimed my palm at his nose and hit his cheek instead, the blow glancing off. His thumbs crushed along the sides of my windpipe.
Something struck him, the force vibrating through me as it dragged him away. "Get off her, Brandt!" Kine's voice cut through my hazy mind.
The ground shook. Thunderous beats filled the air as the world turned upside down. I rubbed my throat, gulping in harsh, burning breaths.
Strong arms scooped me up as easily as if I weighed no more than a bag of eggshells. Tears blinded me. Harsh coughs racked my body.
Elias carried me to the other side of a cracked grey boulder with sparkles of pyrite beneath the broad-limbed, red-leafed tree. Kneeling, he placed me against the trunk between the roots and leaned close.
"You're safe," he whispered in my ear, his breath hot. "You're safe. I've got you. You're safe. The others are coming."
"It didn't turn yellow first," I blurted out, struggling even to speak.
My own words made no sense, but they erupted out of me like that was the actual betrayal. Something was supposed to go yellow, and it went yellow at the wrong time. The charm? It had glowed yellow when he was strangling me.
Fear, anger, sorrow, and grief—they all pulsed within me. My hand remained at my throat, my breaths shallow and ragged. Tears rolled down my cheeks.
No.
This was wrong.
Brandt lurched back, striking the ground. His gaze fell on Kine with nothing but pure hate. "Traitor!" he bellowed. His eyes blazed like fire, his jaw seeming to distend.
The intensity in his voice and his words seared me.
"Why don't you fear me, seer?"
His voice echoed in my head. A foreign memory pressed at my mind. As if he was asking me the question in another place at another time. But I saw the two of us standing in a throne room.
Did I fear him—Brandt.
The trembling in my body intensified as I spoke his name within my thoughts.
My heart clenched.
